


Counting the Seconds

by Emela



Category: Leverage
Genre: Eliot Spencer needs a hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s03e15 The Big Bang Job, F/M, M/M, The ot3 figure some stuff out, There are blankets involved, hair petting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23362513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emela/pseuds/Emela
Summary: Alec comes home to find Eliot waiting for him after The Big Bang Job.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 56
Kudos: 368





	Counting the Seconds

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing something in almost 5 years but I just finished Leverage and I fell in love with the OT3. The Big Bang Job still gives me a lot of feelings and while I know there are probably several amazing post-ep fics out there for this episode, I was consumed with the need to write something myself. This is also my first time writing for these characters, so please be gentle. As always, thank you for reading.

Alec wasn’t surprised to see him. He was used to having Eliot in his space lately, pulling him in slowly, carefully; dinners with him and Parker (cooked by Eliot) turning in to late nights watching old heist movies (narrated by Parker). It was a thing they did. 

Closing the door, he fought the warm, happy feeling that usually came with seeing Eliot here now. He didn’t want it. Not tonight. 

Eliot had lied. Eliot lied and Alec hated that he wasn’t mad, hadn’t been since the moment he saw the look on Eliot’s face when Parker asked him what he did for Moreau. _Please, don’t ask me._

Eliot didn’t speak as Alec made his way into the room. He was sitting on the couch, staring at his hands, a blank expression on his face. Something loosened inside Alec at the sight, and he found himself scanning the couch for the blankets he usually kept there. Blankets Alec bought for the three of them to share, when Parker got cold and Eliot made them hot chocolate. It was a thing they did.

The blankets weren’t on the couch though. They had been deliberately moved to the armchair.

Alec didn’t know why but his stomach clenched painfully at the thought.

“You said I risked your life,” Eliot said, breaking the silence. His voice was hoarse and Alec watched as his hair fell further in front of his face as his head sank lower, lower, lower, almost between his legs. It reminded him of the position Nana used to put him in when he had anxiety attacks as a kid.

Alec didn’t know if he was meant to take Eliot’s words as a statement or a question. "You did," he said, because he was still smarting, just a little. “You did,” he said again, expecting, _waiting_ , for the anger to reach Eliot’s face, for the “dammit, Hardison!”, because he knew Eliot knew that _he knew_ Eliot would do anything to keep this team safe. To keep him and Parker safe. It wasn’t fair to put that on him too.

But the anger didn’t come. Instead, a flash of hurt crossed Eliot’s face. The kind of hurt Alec wasn’t used to seeing on his friend’s face. Alec wondered if Eliot was even aware he let had let the mask slip.

Standing, Eliot slowly walked towards him. His hands were shaking.

"I need you to know-" he said. Stopped. Risked a glance at Alec’s face. “I need you to _know-_ ” he tried again, but his voice broke. Completely broke, and Alec…Alec didn’t know what to do with that. For a moment, he just looked at Alec, almost pleading, and whatever he was trying to say, Alec realised it was about to cost Eliot something.

So, he waited. He waited so damn long he was sure Eliot had changed his mind and this was only going to end with Eliot punching something or storming out.

But he didn't. Instead, Eliot eventually murmured "I’d do anything for…” in that soft, gentle voice he sometimes had; the kind he usually reserved for scared kids and the animals Parker liked to visit, and sometimes steal, from the shelter. Except Eliot’s eyes were red and his hands were still shaking and there were no scared kids or wounded animals for him to gentle.

“I was counting the seconds, from the moment you were pushed.”

He stepped closer then, reaching out, but just as quick he snatched his hand back, closing in on himself in a way that, up until now, Alec had only witnessed in Parker.

Alec sucked in a breath. He couldn’t remember the last time Eliot looked unsure about something. Wary, yes. Cautious, always. But being unsure of his next move? That definitely wasn’t a weakness in Eliot’s skillset.

Alec wasn’t proud of himself, but he looked away. This was brand new territory.

"Alec, I-”

Eliot’s voice was wet, hands in fists by his sides, clenching and unclenching, but it was the _Alec_ that got him, made him look back. Made him move closer, but Eliot flinched when he did. Scared. 

He sucked in another breath.

He forgot, sometimes, that Eliot was just as vulnerable as Parker. Needed the same gentle hands, even if he tried to pretend he didn’t, and for the first time, Alec could see the cracks Eliot did such a good job of hiding all the time.

_I'll never be clean of that._

“I’ll never ask,” Parker interjected, suddenly, perched on the side of the couch like she’d been there all along. It caused Alec to only jump a little. Her voice was loud and determined, her eyes serious and unflinching when Alec looked over at her, but her knees were drawn up. He noticed she was wearing one of his shirts. "I'll never ask. Never. It's done. For always."

Eliot looked at her too then, taking in her face, eyes moving to rest a beat too long on Alec’s shirt.

Huh.

Finally, he nodded, earning him one of Parker’s soft and open smiles. The kind Alec knew she’d been practising lately. 

“Make it better,” she said, turning her eyes on Alec. “Make it better like you make it better for me.”

Alec couldn’t help it then. He smiled too, remembering the first time Parker had let Alec kiss her. How much she had struggled to open herself up to him, not because she didn’t want to, but because she didn’t know how to. It had scared her, that openness. _Make it better,_ she had asked him, like she trusted Alec knew how.

“ _Alec,”_ Parker huffed, more insistent, and when he looked up, it took him a moment to realise Eliot was crying.

Suddenly, this felt a lot like kissing Parker.

Eliot wouldn’t ask though. Alec knew he wouldn’t. Instead, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and deliberately didn’t bolt for the door because…because…well, Alec didn’t know why.

Then he looked at Parker, Parker who was now holding the blankets – their blankets – that Eliot had carefully moved, and he understood.

Alec moved on instinct then, catching Eliot’s wrist and pulled him into a hug. Surprisingly, Eliot went willingly. _Too willingly_ , Alec noted, gathering him closer.

“It’s okay, Eliot,” Parker whispered, suddenly beside them. “It’s okay,” like she was trying to give Eliot permission for something, and when a small sob finally escaped him, Alec realised maybe she had. 

Leading them back to the couch, Parker arranged them so she could fit herself around them. Alec expected Eliot to say something then, to growl or push them away as he was typically prone to do when he and Parker tried to get him to sit in the middle on movie nights. But he let Parker in too. Let Alec continue to hold him. It was a heady feeling. 

"You don’t have to," was all he said, a little angry. At himself or them, Alec was past caring.

“Of course we don’t _have to_ , silly.” Parker rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah man,” Alec agreed, heart suddenly beating rabbit fast. They needed to be careful about this. “This ain’t some kind of pity party we’re throwing here. We’re- you’re-” He didn’t know how to say _ours_ yet.

Parker, of course, had no such worry. “You’re our Eliot!” She beamed. 

Eliot’s eyes widened at the less-than-subtle implication. He shook his head. “I’m not a good man.”

“That’s okay, neither am I.” She said it matter-of-fact, yet her eyes were soft. “Hardison says that’s okay because we’re good for each other. And we help people now.” She looked at Alec then, then back at Eliot. She shrugged, and they shared a look Alec knew wasn’t meant to be understood by anyone other than ParkerandEliot, before Eliot smiled sadly.

Carefully, she began to stroke Eliot’s hair, earning her a small glare but he didn't pull away. It reminded Alec of the way Parker approached the newer strays that were brought into the shelter.

Alec silently agreed, smiling when Eliot slowly began to accept Parker's touch; cautious and, Alec thought, a little hopeful, head hovering just above her shoulder. When it finally fell, Parker grinned at Alec, a gleam in her eye. Alec stared at her, then at Eliot. Eliot, whose eyes had drifted shut, soft and sleepy, content for Parker to continue petting him.

It tightened something in Alec’s chest, seeing that. Made his heart skip a little faster.

The gleam in Parker’s eyes softened into a twinkle. “Bedtime!” she announced, swinging a leg up and over both of them, causing Eliot to grumble and pull Alec closer when it jostled him a little. “I want pancakes when we wake up. Just so you know.”

Eliot snorted but didn’t open his eyes. “Okay, Parker.” Then, more hesitantly, “Hardison?”

“Hm?”

“Do you…want pancakes too?”

Aw, hell. 

Throwing caution to the wind, Alec leaned in to plant a kiss on Eliot’s cheek, loud but as sweet as he could, making him blush and Parker giggle. She decided to do it too.

“Yeah, man. Of course I want pancakes. No-one makes pancakes like you.”

Eliot blushed a little more. “Okay,” he whispered, a smile threatening his mouth. Parker laughed and threw the blankets over them properly. 

They'd figure out the rest when they were ready. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm pale-silver-comb on tumblr!


End file.
